'Fedal' chapter 39 ends with same result at Roland Garros (thank god clay season is almost done)

Roger Federer has played 1,472 ATP Tour matches and faced hundreds of opponents throughout his 21-year career. But after his Roland Garros semi-final loss to Rafael Nadal, his sixth to the Spaniard at this event, he admitted his clay-court battles against the 11-time champion are unmatched in difficulty.

“He makes you feel uncomfortable the way he defends the court and plays on clay. There is nobody who even plays remotely close to him,” said Federer. “I don't even know who I need to go search for to go practice with somebody who plays like him. It's just amazing how he plays from deep and then is able to bounce back and forth from the baseline.”

The Swiss star powered into the semi-finals for the first time since 2012. Competing with a larger racquet head for the first time at the second major of the year, Federer’s backhand had more bite than in previous visits and allowed for even greater success in rushing the net. He won 127 of 175 net points (72.6%) in his first five rounds and went to the net 60 times in his quarter-final victory over Stan Wawrinka.

But Federer’s trips to the net on Friday had two things working against him. Not only does Nadal love a target, but brutal winds topping 39 miles per hour slowed his approaches and enabled the Spaniard to comfortably rip passing shots. Federer won just 17 of 35 net points on the day.

“You get to a point where you're just happy to make shots and not look ridiculous. It's that bad,” said Federer of the swirling winds. “There is also no way to practice in these conditions. It's all a mindset. It's footwork…It was difficult, but I accept that. He played in an incredible way. He has incredible abilities on clay. I knew that ahead of time.”

Despite the loss, Federer can consider his clay-court season a success. Before the start of the clay season, the Swiss admitted being unsure if he remembered how to slide on the surface after not competing on it for three years. He finished it with a 9-2 record, only losing to Nadal and Dominic Thiem. Federer also amassed 1,080 ATP Rankings points during this stretch, cementing his position at No. 3 and moving him closer to catching Nadal at No. 2.

The always vocal Parisian fans showed their appreciation at having the chance to watch Federer for the first time since 2015, showering him with even more adoration than he typically received over the years on Court Philippe-Chatrier. The love from the crowd made the 20-time Grand Slam champion hint that his return to clay will become a staple in his final years on tour.

“I thought it was a great tournament. I really enjoyed it. Crowd support couldn't have been better. Maybe one of the best ever in my entire 20-year career that I have been on tour at a Grand Slam,” said Federer. “They were always there for me, supporting me in practice, at the matches, on the grounds whenever I came and showed up. They were always happy to see me. So that was nice.

“I think I surprised myself maybe with how deep I got in this tournament and how well I actually was able to play throughout. Next year, just like with any other tournament, I don't know. We'll see what happens. But I definitely enjoyed the clay-court season and [Roland Garros], so that would help the chances to return to the clay. It's not like it's been a shocker. So from that standpoint, it's okay.”

atptour.com

Since I hardly had any expectation of him actually winning this, I'm ok with the result.

In fact I want to copy and paste some excellent bullet points made by one of my favourite tennis bloggers.  :

Federer on clay 1) got match fit and didn’t get injured (as far as we can tell), 2) played pretty well from the baseline on a surface he hasn’t been on for 3 years, 3) made the friggin semifinals! 4) looks pretty good for grass season.

I do have to add that the organization and treatment of scheduling for this event has been horrendous. Especially for the women, who were treated extremely disrespectfully through out. Not putting a women's semi on center court?. Really?. Just ridiculous.

I am rooting for Dominic Thiem I think this might be the year he shakes things up right to the very end.

This whole tournament has just reaffirmed why it continues to be at the bottom when it comes to favourite slams for me.

I'll take the other 3 slams any day of the week thank you very much.

I'm so ready to move on to the grass of Wimbledon, where Mr. Federer remains the king. 

Roger Federer wins the battle of the Swiss sets up 39th meeting with Nadal in the semis at Roland Garros

Roger Federer is competing at Roland Garros for the first time in four years, but it certainly hasn’t seemed like it this fortnight.

After a rain delay that lasted more than an hour, Federer surged past fellow Swiss Stan Wawrinka 7-6(4), 4-6, 7-6(5), 6-4 in three hours and 35 minutes Tuesday, advancing to the semi-finals on the Parisian terre for the first time since 2012.

Federer seized early control against former World No. 3 Wawrinka, but the mishits and missed opportunities began to pile up for the 2009 titlist, as he suddenly was two Wawrinka holds away from going down two sets to one. But Federer remained calm and regained the momentum during the roller-coaster match by winning a crucial third-set tie-break, only for the adrenaline to wear off as threatening clouds sent the compatriots off the court.

Instead of faltering, though, Federer earned his second break of the match when they returned to court and after saving a break chance, punched a forehand volley into the open court to become the second-oldest man to make the semi-finals at Roland Garros, trailing only Pancho Gonzales, who was 40 in 1968.

Federer will next meet his greatest rival, 11-time champion Rafael Nadal, for the first time since 2017 Shanghai. They were set to battle in the semi-finals of this year’s BNP Paribas Open, but Nadal withdrew due to an injury. Their 39th FedEx ATP Head2Head clash (Nadal leads 23-15) will be their first on clay since 2013 Rome.

Perhaps it’s fitting that Federer’s quarter-final victory came against Wawrinka, who ousted him in the last eight four years ago in straight sets. Federer now leads his good friend 23-3 in their FedEx ATP Head2Head, but entering the match the 37-year-old only had a 4-3 advantage on clay.

The third seed struggled converting break points, winning just two of 18 in the match, as Wawrinka consistently was aggressive to take matters into his own hands. But Federer held his nerve in the tie-breaks, dropping only two combined service points in both of them.

At the start of the match, Federer was cruising along on serve, using variety on the backhand side — going big, finding the short crosscourt angle, and varying the rhythm of rallies with a short chip — to play on his terms. But the 101-time tour-level titlist missed out on his first eight chances of the match as Wawrinka showed no fear in going for it under pressure.

Federer vs. Wawrinka Stats

Stat Roger Federer Stan Wawrinka

Winners 53 54

Unforced Errors 49 61

Break Points Converted 2/18 2/5

Those missed chances nearly came back to haunt Federer, as Wawrinka, the three-time Grand Slam champion, converted his first two break points, using the first to win the second set and the next one to take a 4-3 lead in the third set. Suddenly, Federer began to mishit shots as he fell further behind the baseline, and Wawrinka added even more juice to his powerful strokes to overwhelm his compatriot in rallies and put more pressure on the World No. 3 to go for more from tougher positions.

But Wawrinka, who needed five hours and nine minutes to win his fourth-round match against reigning Next Gen ATP Finals champion Stefanos Tsitsipas, finally cracked at 4-3 in the third. In the seventh different game in which he faced a break point, the No. 24 seed decelerated on a low forehand approach shot near the service line, and the ball sailed well long to allow Federer back on serve.

And from there, Federer began to find his service rhythm and work his way back into rallies again, throwing in more drop shots and using a timely stretch backhand drop volley in the ensuing tie-break to take the lead before closing out the third set.

When the Swiss stars returned to Court Suzanne Lenglen at 3-3 in the fourth set, Federer made clear his intentions to run around his backhand to hit forehands on second-serve returns, after missing many backhand returns long earlier on. And that strategy paid dividends, as he broke for 5-4, before saving a break point with a reflexed drop volley and serving out his victory. Federer is the oldest major semi-finalist since 39-year-old Jimmy Connors at the 1991 US Open.

Wawrinka, who earned his 500th tour-level win with his second-round triumph against Grigor Dimitrov, was pursuing his fourth Roland Garros semi-final. The 34-year-old underwent two knee surgeries in August 2017, and he has been battling his way back into form ever since, falling as low as No. 263 in the ATP Rankings last June. Wawrinka will return to the Top 20 next Monday.

Did You Know?

Federer had not won a best-of-five-set match that went longer than three sets since the 2018 Australian Open final, when he defeated Marin Cilic in five sets.

atptour.com

Hasn't played on clay in 4 years and he gets to the semis of Roland Garros. Only Roger. Although I must say my hopes were dwindling with every break point conversion missed. 

That is something he'll have to do a 100% better when he's facing Nadal, because he will definitely not be giving him 18 chances to break.  

I thought he was pretty much a goner when he went down a break in the 3rd, but he managed to turn it around. 

If I thought the match he just won was a nail biter, this next one is sure to send me into cardiac arrest. I may need to buy some alcohol and drink it at 8 am  to get through this one. 

The good news for Rog?. He has beaten him the last 5 times they played. 

Bad news?. 

None of them were on clay. But those wins will definitely give him confidence none the less. 

What a French Open this is turning out to be. Bring it on!. 

Roger Federer into the quarters of Roland Garros will face Stan Wawrinka in the battle of the Swiss

menstennisforums.com

For a self-described “outsider” at Roland Garros, Roger Federer sure has been playing like one of the favourites in Paris.

The third seed won his 12th set in a row on Sunday, beating Argentina's Leonardo Mayer 6-2, 6-3, 6-3 to make his first Grand Slam quarter-final in 11 months (Wimbledon, l. to Anderson) and return to the Roland Garros quarter-finals for the first time since 2015, the last time Federer played at the clay-court major.

“Big serving, windy, it was tough conditions... I think when it's this kind of conditions, it's fast, it's swirly, especially the one side, you have a lot of wind in your back. It's like you're serving from sort of a tree, from a mountain, and from the other one you feel like you're playing up the hill,” Federer said. “[It's] important it's focused there and I did that well, and I'm very pleased with the game.”

The Swiss is through to his 12th Roland Garros quarter-final and 54th overall at a Grand Slam, the latter of which extends his record.

At 37 years 305 days, Federer is also the third-oldest man to reach the quarter-finals at Roland Garrosin the Open Era. The 2009 titlist will meet Stan Wawrinka or Stefanos Tsitsipas in the last eight. Wawrinka beat Federer in the 2015 quarter-finals en route to the Roland Garros title.



Mayer trailed Federer 0-3 in their FedEx ATP Head2Head series, but the two had never played on the Argentine's favourite surface of clay. and Mayer held five match points against Federer during their 2014 Shanghai meeting. But during his return to clay this year, Federer has looked as comfortable as anyone, a trend that continued on Sunday.

The Swiss broke in the opening game with a backhand winner down the line, and the fist pumps flowed from there. Federer converted five of his 10 break points and never faced a break point on his serve.

Federer lost to Tsitsipas, the reigning Next Gen ATP Finals champion, in the Australian Open fourth round, but Federer evened their FedEx ATP Head2Head series with a straight-sets win in the Dubai final for his 100th title.

“I would definitely have to look back into how Stefanos plays on clay. Obviously he returns from further back, he's not so far in. But he moves very naturally on the clay surface. So he's coming in with tons of matches, as well, in the year but also on clay, with a great win against Rafa in Madrid,” Federer said.

“So I'm expecting a tough match. He's got the options to serve and volley. I saw him doing that in Monte-Carlo against Medvedev, but then also he's happy to rally from the baseline. He can figure it out, depending on the conditions. I'm hearing it's going to be maybe raining, 20 degrees on Tuesday. That's going to anyway put some adjustments on to all the players playing on that day.”

Federer leads his FedEx ATP Head2Head series with Wawrinka 22-3, but all three of Wawrinka's wins have come on clay: 2015 Roland Garros and 2014, 2009 Monte-Carlo.

“On clay, it's been definitely more dangerous than on any other surface for me against him,” Federer said. “I hope he's not at the level of '15, but we'll find out, because there he was crushing the ball. It was unbelievable.”

atptour.com

The big question will be how much Stan has left after his 5 hour 9 minute marathon with Tsitsipas, especially if it goes another 5 sets. 

But let's not think about that just yet, and enjoy the fact that he's into another Grand Slam quarter-final at Roland Garros no less. Without losing a set. Well done Rog!. 

Roger Federer into the 2nd week at Roland Garros

menstennisforums.com

On paper, Roger Federer’s 6-3, 6-1, 7-6(8) win against #NextGenATP Norwegian Casper Ruud to reach the fourth round at Roland Garros was nothing out of the ordinary. But for the 37-year-old Federer, who shows no signs of slowing down anytime soon, it was a trip down memory lane.

When the Swiss first competed in the Roland Garros main draw, Ruud, now 20, was just five months old.

“I feel that my 20 years on the Tour went too fast almost,” Federer said. “I like to think about Florence in '98 or the juniors before, because I had a lot of pleasure. When you play against people like Casper Ruud, you ask, ‘How was it at the time?’ When I started on the Tour he was hardly born.”

In fact, Federer admitted before facing the 20-year-old that he actually knew more about the Norwegian’s father, former World No. 39 Christian Ruud, than he did about Casper. Christian reached the third round at 1999 Roland Garros, which was Federer’s first major main draw.

“Many people have memories which count a lot for your life, for your daily life, especially when you see an old pal talking about what you lived in the past and you think about what's coming up with him or with your family for the future,” said Federer, who is competing at the clay-court Grand Slam for the first time since 2015. “But I guess it's mainly due to the fact that I didn't come here for many years. I started here about 20 years ago. It's probably due to Casper Ruud.”


Federer's Milestone Grand Slam Matches



Grand Slam Match

Tournament

Round

Result


No. 1

1999 Roland Garros

First Round

l. to Pat Rafter


No. 100

2005 US Open

Second Round

def. Fabrice Santoro


No. 200

2009 Roland Garros

Semi-final

def. Juan Martin del Potro


No. 300

2013 US Open

Third Round

def. Adrian Mannarino


No. 400

2019 Roland Garros

Third Round

def. Casper Ruud


Federer’s two-hour, 11-minute victory against the younger Ruud came in his 400th Grand Slam match. The 20-time major champion is now 345-55 at the majors. Nobody else has won 300 matches at the Slams in the Open Era.

“It's true I played many matches in Grand Slam tournaments, and it's even more pleasant to do this in Roland Garros, because I have a lot of records, milestones from Wimbledon or the US Open. But doing anything at Roland [Garros] is very special, because I played a lot here. It was my first Grand Slam where I was in the main draw,” Federer said. “It's the closest one to Basel, and this counts, as well. 400 is still a lot, eh? Because I played many matches. My 1,000th [tour-level] victory touched me a lot, moved me.”

Federer is now 7-1 since his return to clay at the Mutua Madrid Open. The third seed had not played on the surface since the 2016 Internazionali BNL d’Italia. And he has not dropped a set through three matches at Roland Garros, losing serve just twice.

“I'm very happy. A few months ago I didn't know what to expect with anything, really. At this point, now I know where my level is at. I still don't know exactly where my absolute best is, but I feel like it could be there. Maybe not. I'm happy to find out,” Federer said. “I'm happy I'm putting myself in a position like this in a fourth round of the French Open after not having played [here for] so many years here. I think for me the first goal has been reached by getting this deep into the tournament, and knowing where the game is at, knowing where the fitness is, the mind.

Federer will try to reach the quarter-finals here for the 11th time in his past 12 appearances (since 2005) when he faces Argentine Leonardo Mayer, against whom he holds a 3-0 FedEx ATP Head2Head series lead.

“I'm very pleased how I'm feeling and how I'm playing, and still trying to stay true to playing freely and with nothing to lose, even though I know I will be the favourite in the next game,” Federer said. “But regardless, I'm going to try to play as free as I can.”

atptour.com

Hasn't played French Open in 4 years and is into the round of 16. I would say Roland Garros is going well for Fed. 

Roger Federer rolls into round 3 at Roland Garros

 I don't know what's going on in this pic but I love it

Roger Federer doesn't know a lot about his third-round opponent, #NextGenATP Norwegian Casper Ruud. In fact, he might know more about Christian Ruud, Casper's father and coach who ended his career at the 2001 Roland Garros, the eighth Slam Federer played.

“I know probably more about his dad than about him. Even though I never played him, the father,” Federer said. “I know that [Casper has] improved a lot in recent years, and I think he plays very well on the clay. Again, I haven't seen him play a whole lot. But for any 20-year-old to be on the big stage, playing a top guy, on a centre court, that's what you dream of."

Federer coasted into the third round on Wednesday as he continued his Roland Garros return without dropping a set 6-4, 6-3, 6-4 against Germany's Oscar Otte.

The third-seeded Swiss, making his first appearance in Roland Garros since 2015, won 75 per cent of his service points, including the same percentage on his second offering, and was never challenged against the 25-year-old German, No. 144 in the ATP Rankings. Federer saved all four break points faced.

“I must say I feel really good, considering I haven't played here in that long. Especially if I think back a few weeks and months ago before Madrid, didn't know how successful I was going to play or how I was going to feel on the clay,” said Federer, who played in Madrid and Rome before Roland Garros.

“The clay-court season has been, it's been busy, and it's nice this way. So I hope I can keep it up. Next round is definitely going to be tougher.”

Ruud made his first third round at a Grand Slam by beating Italy's Matteo Berrettini 6-4, 7-5, 6-3. The 20-year-old Ruud, playing at a career-high No. 63, made the fourth round at the ATP Masters 1000 event in Rome earlier this month (l. to Del Potro) and improved to 13-5 on the season with the straight-sets win against Berrettini.

“Today, by the scoreline against Berrettini, seems like he did his work, and he deserves to be in the third round. I will take him very seriously,” Federer said.

Ruud has matched his Grand Slam win total this week and has yet to drop a set in beating Berrettini and 2014 semi-finalist Ernests Gulbis of Latvia.

“I didn't kind of expect myself to win in three straight sets, but I played very good tennis when I had to the most, especially toward the end of both first and second set,” Ruud said of his second-round match.

“Now I'm playing one of the greatest champions ever of this sport on Friday, so I'm just super excited for it. I can play loose and free. I have nothing to stress about or think too much about.

“But of course I will be a bit excited and nervous, but I will just look at it as a great opportunity and a privilege to be able to play Roger.”

atptour.com

Roger Federer makes successful return to Roland Garros

Everyone is hating on the outfit saying it looks like a UPS man's uniform, but I don't mind it


Roger Federer is back. After a three-year absence, the 2009 champion returned to Roland Garros on Sunday with a straightforward 6-2, 6-2, 6-4 win against Italian Lorenzo Sonego. The Swiss broke five times and hit 36 winners to get off the court in less than two hours.


“Because there has been some pressure in the beginning, obviously some nerves, many people wanted to know how it was going to be for me, how I was going to be back.


“There has been a lot of attention lately with my return. When I started the match, I started it well, so it shows that the pressure is not acting on me,” Federer said.


“I was right away playing well on the centre court here in Roland Garros. The duration of the match wasn't a problem. No problems with my body before or after the match. And then I have... two-and-a-half days... it's ideal for me for the start of the tournament.”


Federer missed 2016 Roland Garros because of injury and chose to skip the 2017 and 2018 clay-court swings to prepare for the grass-court season.


But he's returned to the European swing with success this year, making the quarter-finals in both Madrid and Rome, although he pulled out of the ATP Masters 1000 tournament in Rome because of a leg injury, a decision Federer later described as “precautionary”.


“Now I'm very happy I took that decision, because I enjoyed Madrid, I enjoyed Rome. I'm happy to be here. The reception I got today was crazy, was really nice to see a full stadium for a first round like this. It was a beauty. So I'm very, very happy,” Federer said.


The Swiss won his only Roland Garros title 10 years ago, beating Swede Robin Soderling in the final to complete the Career Grand Slam. He made the quarter-finals in 2015, falling to countryman Stan Wawrinka. Federer will next meet German lucky loser Oscar Otte, who beat Tunisian Malek Jaziri 6-3, 6-3, 4-6, 6-0.


Also in the 37-year-old's sixteenth of the draw is 17th seed Diego Schwartzman, who battled past Hungarian Marton Fucsovics 6-3, 3-6, 7-6(7), 2-6, 6-2 in three hours and 41 minutes. The Argentine has found his form this month, reaching his first Masters 1000 semi-final in Rome, where he pushed World No. 1 Novak Djokovic to three sets.


Schwartzman, last year's Rio de Janeiro champion, also beat clay-court stalwart and current World No. 4 Dominic Thiem in straight sets in Buenos Aires this February. The 5'7" right-hander will next face countryman Leonardo Mayer, who cruised past Czech Jiri Vesely 7-6(3), 6-3, 6-0 in two hours and nine minutes.


atptour.com

Roger Federer wants to have fun on clay

After four years away, Roger Federer is coming back to Roland Garros this summer. The 2009 champion has missed his time in the French capital and now he says: “I just want to play”

Fun comes in many forms: for some, it is a 10-mile run; for the rest of us, it is a 10-minute nap. But fun, it seems, for Roger Federer it is another shot at Roland Garros glory.

Now, much as we all love the two weeks of toil and drama on the red courts of Paris, it is not what you might call ‘fun’ for the competitors. The matches are long (even the straight sets ones), the pressure is huge and the battle for the second Grand Slam trophy of the season is deadly serious. Fun and games this ain’t. But Roger thinks it might be, so he is coming back to Roland Garros for the first time since 2015.

In 2016, he missed the French Open as he recovered from knee surgery. The following year, he thought it would be wise to let his body rest and recover from a stunning first three months of the year – he won the Australian Open, Indian Wells and Miami – and given that taking a two-and-a-half month sabbatical resulted in him storming back to win in Halle and Wimbledon, he thought he would use the same formula in 2018.

That did not work out quite so well: the mighty Fed won the Australian Open to claim his 20th Grand Slam title and then went to Rotterdam in pursuit of points and the No.1 ranking. He got them, too, but after that he could not keep up his relentless winning run.

No matter, at the age of 37, the GOAT is still happy to adapt and change. These days, with 99 career titles and 1183 match wins (and counting) to his name, he has earned the right to play as and when he likes.

He is not obliged to play any tournament if he does not want to (even if that does limit his ranking options and this week he sits at No.7 in the world) and so Fed trains smart, schedules clever and plays only when he feels his body is ready for the challenge. And this year, he thinks the heart, the legs and all the other bits are ready for the clay.

Before anyone starts putting two and two together to make five, Fed was at pains to point out that this sudden change of mind about Roland Garros does not mean that he is saying goodbye. This is not – he hopes – his last clay court season nor is this his farewell tour. The birthdays keep racking up but our hero is as keen as ever to keep on playing.

“This doesn't mean this is my last clay court season, or I had to play one more time before I retired. That was not the thinking,” Federer told the ATP website as he prepared for the start of the Dubai Duty Free Championships this week. “My body was ready, I was ready, my schedule with the family, my schedule with the team was ready to do it again. This is when I opted to say, ‘It will be nice. Instead of taking a big chunk off, I'd rather stay in the rhythm and actually enjoy myself on the clay.’ It's going to be challenging, no doubt about it. I have to take baby steps in the beginning to some extent, but that's OK.”

Federer has not played at all on clay since the Masters 1000 in Rome in 2016 where he lost in the third round to Dominic Thiem in straight sets. Reacquainting himself with life on the red brick dust may take a little time, then, and to sharpen his reflexes, he has entered the Mutua Madrid Open before he heads to Paris.

The Spanish capital sits 667m above sea level and the courts play a bit faster up there which should make Fed’s ‘baby steps’ a little easier. But down at Seine level, he knows he will need to be ready for the long haul. But still he is excited to be coming back to Roland Garros.

“I think after not playing for two years, also missing the French [Open] three years ago because of injury, I think the team understood that I was in the mood to do it again,” he said. “I did grow up on clay, after all. I felt like my body is strong enough now again to do the surface changes from hard to clay to grass to hard. In the past I felt different. It was purely based on [the fact that] I would just like to play. We can always readjust the schedule accordingly depending how I play the clay.”

And Fed can play on clay. He has reached five French Open finals in his time, and won one of them. The four he lost were all to a certain Mr R. Nadal of Mallorca – then again, that same Mr Nadal has never lost a Roland Garros final and he has won 11 of them. In his pomp on the red stuff, Fed was undoubtedly the second best clay court player on the planet – it was just that he kept bumping into the greatest clay court player of all time every time the trophy was within touching distance.

Injuries permitting, Rafa will be back to torment Roger again this summer. But the Swiss does not mind: he just wants to play on the clay again and have some fun. And if Roger is having fun, who knows what can happen.

rolandgarros.com